The Tories have promised to give mothers a 'wage' for staying at home to look after children.

They say it would give stay-home parents #150 a month.

What do Teesside mums think of the idea?

Lisa Ogden gave up her job as a care assistant to stay at home to look after her two young children.

The 26-year-old from Stockton intends to be a full-time mum until her children Jack, 16 months, and Milly, three months, are five and six years old and at school.

Lisa's husband Richard, 31, works full time to support the family.

She was obviously interested, then, in proposals outlined by the Tories last week which promise to 'pay' parents to stay at home to care for their children.

Certainly, in Lisa's case, the proposed home care allowance would give the family's funds a welcome boost.

"It's quite a good idea," says Lisa, from Hartburn.

"It would mean a lot of people would feel less pressure to work.

"A lot of mums feel that they have to work, but with the cost of childcare, it's like doing a full-time job for part-time pay."

But she says that #150 is "not exactly a lot of money" and wonders if the addition of this allowance would simply replace existing benefits such as family tax credit.

"They seem to give you money with one hand and take it away with the other," she points out.

"We only receive child benefit and working family tax credit, so for us this home care allowance would be a bonus if it came on top of those.

"I don't think it would work if both parents were unemployed."

When Lisa was small, her grandparents took a key role in looking after her as her mum juggled childcare and work.

"My mum worked nights and my dad worked days so they could look after us," says Lisa.

"But there don't seem to be so many night jobs these days, plus you lose that quality family time during the week, which is very important to me."

Vanessa Price is a mum who has recently gone back to work part-time.

The 36-year-old, from Hornby, near Yarm, had to give up her high-flying career as a human resources manager when she was diagnosed with facial cancer three years ago.

Now in remission and with her life happily back on track with new husband Steve and their children, Vanessa has recently returned to work.

However, she is all for a stay-home payment for other mums. "I think it's a fantastic idea," she says.

"I was on a really good salary so I don't think it would have been a big enough financial incentive for me and people in my position but if, say, you're working in a low-paid job and you have to fork out for transport costs and childcare, then it would be a good bonus.

"It would be fantastic for some people but for others, I don't think it would be a big enough incentive to stay at home for financial reasons."

The current Government has been criticised for putting pressure on women to return to work rather than look after their children - particularly single mothers.

But, says Vera Baird, Labour MP for Redcar, both sides should be considered.

"I have always been in support of the value of women's work in the home and we should help people who stay at home to look after their children.

"On the other hand, many women want to go to work and I don't want disincentives to that. Dads may want to stay at home to look after their children, so that would need addressing too."

She adds that in the Labour party "there have been conversations that by improving childcare and encouraging women out to work there has been an inadvertent suggestion that women who choose to stay at home" are being neglected and a work/home balance needs to be found.

"It is an issue we are giving a lot of thought to," she says.

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Mums welcome idea

Mothers could be paid to stay at home and look after their children under a Conservative government.

They could be given #150 a month under plans being drawn up by the Tories.

The party says its proposed home care allowance would help remove the need for women to resume working after the birth of a child.

Under the plans, a child home care allowance would be paid to all parents of children under the age of three who decide not to place them with a nursery or childminder.

Tory spokeswoman for women Caroline Spelman and work and pensions spokesman David Willets are expected to unveil details of the home care allowance at the party's spring conference in Harrogate next month.

The Tories are expected to model their plans on a similar programme in Finland, where mothers are paid #150 a month for their first baby and #50 for each subsequent child.

Several polls and surveys have shown that the overwhelming majority of women would prefer to look after their young children at home if they could afford it.

The home care allowance would be paid to all families regardless of income and it would be tied to the child rather than the parent. It is not clear whether it would be paid on top of child benefit.

Conservative leader Michael Howard's "British Dream" speech also gave the first public hint of the new approach to child care.